Everyone's giving 10 percent*

Gannett is no longer contemplating job cuts by year's end, it's actually doing it - to the tune of 3,000 employees, or 10 percent of its workforce, at Gannett's 85 daily newspapers.

Newpaper division president Bob Dickey dropped the memo today (h/t Gannett Blog):

As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.

To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.

Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.

*UPDATE: USA Today, the flagship of the Gannett empire, will not be affected by the cutbacks, according to a story in Bloomberg (h/t Romenesko). In the story, a Gannett spokesperson says the "involuntary staff reduction" of 10 percent will result in "significantly less" than the 3,000 job losses Gannett Blog predicts. GB responds, saying this only makes sense if this is a 10 percent cut in payroll expenses.

In related news, I'm told folks at the Gannett-owned Desert Sun in Palm Springs have been told to gather for a mandatory staff meeting tomorrow afternoon.